Taken
by AvengersInTardisWithSherlock
Summary: Mary Crawford, a seventeen year old London girl, believes she lives a normal but simple life. But that all changes when her father suddenly goes missing and she herself is kidnapped. Mary begins to uncover secrets her father kept from the entire family, some that will change her life forever. Things really start to heat up when she meets a certain man named Haytham Kenway...
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! So this is my first time ever publishing something, and I thought I'd give it a try...**

**Please read this and review. **

**Also, I do not Assassin's Creed III! Unfortunately...**

London, England, twenty-eighth of November, 1763

It was another one of those days, the fire burning bright and healthy. My mother was preparing supper in the kitchen, my brother was doing God knows what, my father was off working at the port and I was sitting in the parlor reading one of my favourite books; Robinson Crusoe. The main character, Robinson Crusoe, is alone on a deserted island, and over the course of four-and-twenty years, Crusoe learned how to build canoes, make bread and endure the endless solitude that was brought upon him, until one day, he meets another human. I do not want to say too much about the book, although I've read it countless times. As I finished the chapter I was on, I decided I would like to go out for a walk. I told my mother that I would just be gone for a stroll, I donned my waist coat and set out the door. A wall of cold, crisp air hit me and I shivered. I'd forgotten how cold it was at this time of year. But it was certainly beautiful, the sky was baby blue, and filled with white fluffy clouds. The trees had already lost all of their leaves and a frost had lined the rooftops and the ground. I wasn't sure where I was going to go, but I certainly wanted to stay outside for a while. I decided to start walking down to the port, where I could watch the ships that were coming in and the ones that were leaving. Once I arrived to the port, I was suddenly immersed in the bustling, noisy crowd. The Queen of the Atlantic was leaving today to Boston in the New World, bringing along with it many people. The poor were leaving to start a new life and find wealth, and the rich just to have even more land and become even more wealthy. I always wondered what it would be like to leave boring old London behind and go to Boston and start all over again. I could even make friends I bet. I had never been able to make friends, apparently something about myself was not quite right, and I did not like to do what the other girls my age enjoyed doing. I didn't really mind, most of my days were filled with doing housework, some schooling, and mainly reading books or writing.

"And what's a pretty little girl like ya doin' in a place like this?" A voice asked behind me. The stranger caught me very off guard.

I cleared my throat, "Oh, I am, erm..." I said trying to come up with something, "I am awaiting my brother's return from work, he is a crew member you see, and he has been gone a long time, I have missed him dearly and cannot wait to see him again, And my father is just buying some fish, you see, for dinner tonight."

"Well if I was yer father, I wouldn' ever leave a girl like you standin' all alone, else someone may take her for herself." The strange man said, he was quite off putting and making me nervous, I thought this was the best time to leave.

"Yes well, thank you for that advice, but I see that my father is waving to me, so I must be off. Pleasure meeting you, sir."

He didn't say anything but just watched as I walked away quickly. I did not feel like being out and about any longer so I walked back to my house, trying to slow my racing heart.

Once I stepped in the door to my house I could hear the fire popping and sudden warmth cuddled around me, developing me in a blanket of heat. The dinner smelled wonderful, making my stomach rumble. My brother James was inside, for once, sitting around.

"James," my mother said, "I will need you to prepare the table for supper." Our family was too poor to have any maids or servants, so my brother and I had to do those chores.

As usual, my brother complained, "But Mother, that's not fair! I set the table last night!" He shouted. If he was going to be like this, I certainly would not let him win this.

"Yes I understand dear brother," I told him dripping with sarcasm, "but I believe you forget that I had to go out this afternoon and fetch the ingredients for supper, all you were doing today was running around outside with Henry and Richard!"

"Would someone please do it," my mother sighed, she was not amused, "I don't care who did what this morning or yesterday, I just want the table set!"

Seeing as my brother was looking at anything but me and not offering to do anything. I got up and shot him a look that would set even the most joyous in a bad mood. He didn't care as usual.

Two hours later, after the table was set, and my mother was almost finished with making the dinner, my father was still not home. It was odd because Father was always on time.

"Where is your father? The supper will get cold!" My mother said, exasperated and a tad bit worried.

"I can go out, Mother, by the port, to see if he is still there." I offered.

"I'm not sure, Mary, it is getting dark outside, and you're only seventeen, it could be dangerous..." she trailed off.

"It's fine, the port is but a short walk and I cannot find him after five minutes, I will walk straight back home."

"Alright, Mary, but come home as soon as you can! And do not delay!"

I looked into the mirror, checking to see whether my shoulder length honey brown hair was still intact in it's simple hairdo. A set of chocolate brown eyes stared back at my, I loved looking at eyes, whether they were mine or anyone else's I did not care. There was something about eyes, as though they were gateways to my soul. I got away from the mirror and donned my waistcoat, then left my house for the second time today. It was still cold, the difference was that the sun was setting, and casting a pink glow in the sky. I shivered, and started to walk down to the port yet again.

I was walking past dark alleyway when I was violently pulled into it. Having been caught off guard, I stumbled and almost fell, then looked around me. Four large men were circled around me, staring down at me with an evil glint in their eyes and malicious grins. At once I started to slip in between two of them to get back to the main road, but they barred my path and pushed me back into the middle of the circle.

"Now, where do ya think yer goin' missy?" One man asked me. He was the largest of the men, and by the way the others watched him and acted around him, I guessed that he was their "leader" of the group.

"Please sir, I must be off to the port, could you let me go? My father is awaiting me there."

They all started to laugh, "Ya really think we're gonna let you go? Just like tha'? No no, we're gonna have some fun!"

Suddenly, the leader pulled me towards him, lowered his head, and plastered his lips onto mine. His mouth reeked of alcohol, and I tried desperately to push away from him, but it was no use. Then he tried to lift up my skirts, so I kicked him in his more tender parts. He let out an agonized cry and stumbled backwards. At that moment, I tried to run away again, but one of the men grabbed me by my hair and pulled me back.

The leader of the group was in front of me again, but this time he looked much more angry.

"You made Jimmy very angry righ' there, now yer gonna have to pay fer it!" I guessed that Jimmy was his name.

Out of nowhere, there was a loud snap and then burning pain was searing across my cheek; he had slapped me. The pain sent tears to my eyes. Next thing I knew, I was being pushed to the ground. The other men tore off my necklace and ripped off my bracelets. I started to cry. This was not how I was planning for my night to go. I was angry at my father for being late. Angry at my mother for thinking that it would be alright to let me go out, and angry at myself for thinking that I was strong enough to go out on my own.

As I was thinking this, I realized it had gotten terribly quiet, and I looked up, Jimmy was lying on the ground, blood pooling around his neck. The other three men looked similar to Jimmy, all lying crumpled on the ground with blood pooling around various parts of their bodies. I got up, shaking, and tried to find the person who was responsible for this. I turned around and he was right there. The strange hero that rescued me. He was quite mature, probably somewhere in his mid to late twenties. He had a strong jaw line and a very elegant looking face, he too, was looking at me.

"Thank you," I said, sniffling. I felt awkward and at a loss for words.

"Well, I can't have just ignored this scene, now could I?" The stranger replied, he had a deep voice. Suddenly, I wondered how he could have even seen this happen, since it was dark out and we were in the middle of an alley. The only way he could have seen it is if he were on the rooftops, but that would be silly.

The silence continued, I was starting to feel uncomfortable since he was still staring at me, so I asked, "Must you have killed them?"

"Yes. Don't think this was just because I saw some poor foolish girl being subjected to four large men. I was already following them, they had something I needed, and now I got it back."

That made me angry. "Well, maybe I wouldn't have even needed your help, I could have screamed and someone else could have found me, or, I could have kicked him and ran away. You weren't the only possible person that could have saved me you know."

At this, he laughed, "Am I really supposed to believe that? You were utterly defenseless, and besides, there is no one around to hear you or see you."

Getting tired of his company, I decided to start walking back towards the port, I still had to find my father. "I best be off, but thank you, kind sir, for helping me and I am forever grateful."

I thought I had left him standing there, and that would be the last I saw of him, but apparently not. He caught up to me.

"I never got to hear your name, miss, I think I should have the decency to know. Since I did help you in what could have become something much worse."

"My name is Marion Crawford, sir. But I prefer to be called Mary."

"Only Mary. I think Marion is a much nicer name, is there any reason you enjoy Mary more?"

"Must there be a reason? I just prefer it."

"I cannot argue with that," the stranger said. We were both walking together in pace towards the port.

"May I ask what your name is, sir? It's only fair."

"I suppose. My name is Haytham Kenway. Are you going to the port, Miss Crawford?"

"Pleasure to meet you, Mister Kenway. Yes, I am going to the port. My father is not home yet, and my mother is getting worried. I offered to come searching for him."

"Perfect, I am going to the port as well, there are some matters I must attend to there. We can walk together."

Even though we were already walking together, I nodded my head. We both lapsed into silence. I was thinking about the events that just happened, and I shuddered to think what would have happened had Mister Kenway not arrived in time.

"How old are you, Miss Crawford, you hardly seem a woman."

"I am seventeen years old sir. And you, sir?"

"Have you no etiquette? You cannot simply ask a man how old he is."

"Did you not just do the very same to me? It is only fair after all," I replied. It was quite hypocritical, him talking about manners and etiquette, when he just simply barges into my personal affairs.

"Well, I am twenty-four years of age. If you need to know so desperately." Again, his dark eyes were boring into mine and there were a few strands of hair sticking out from his red ribbon, it was annoying me, but I didn't say anything. It got silent again, and I suddenly remembered something Mister Kenway had said earlier.

"What was it Jimmy had?" I asked.

"Hm?" He shot me a questioning glance.

"Well, you said earlier that Jimmy had something of yours that you wanted back. What was it that he had?"

"Ah yes, well. Tonight is the night of the Beggar's Opera, and I had tickets for it, until Jimmy slipped past me and stole my ticket from my hands. Before I could get him back, I lost him. So I've been searching for him since then. Now, I have my tickets back and that idiotic thief is dead."

"I see." I looked up at Haytham. He seemed so big, not quite in physical size, but in pride and honour and in ego. This man was suspicious though, how did he see me? The only way would have been from the roofs. And for a man to kill another and seem fine with it, he obviously has killed men before. Suddenly, I felt nervous in his presence, but there was no real way of leaving him until arriving at the port. And we weren't very far off from it.


	2. Chapter 2

Upon arriving at the port, Haytham looked at me again.

"Well, Miss Crawford, I must bid you farewell now."

"Goodbye then, Mister Kenway. Thank you for saving me from that treacherous Jimmy, and I do hope you enjoy the opera tonight." I replied.

"Oh, believe me, I shall." He chuckled, he seemed to be sharing an inside joke with himself.

"Well, I guess it's been a pleasure to meet you sir. Farewell."

"Oh no, Miss Crawford, the pleasure has been all mine. I hope you find your father. Good bye now."

Haytham walked away, to the opera, I assumed and then completely vanished into the darkness. After staring at the spot where he used to be, I shook my head and looked around for my father. I began to get nervous. The port was dark and empty, and even though I wanted to call out to Father, I felt that I could not piece the silence with my voice. I walked around the entire port, and even checked the shop where my Father had all his trinkets. I knew that every time he closed his shop for the night, he packed up all of his "inventions" and brought them back home, but today, today his shop looked exactly as it would be during the middle of the day, when he was trying to sell them. I was really worried now, where was my father? He would never leave his "inventions" just lying about, he always went on about how someone might steal them and then sell them saying that they were their inventions. I looked around the eerie port once more, then started running back home.

As soon as I arrived at my house, I ran into the kitchen, panting. My cheeks were burning from the cold, and I suspected they would have a rosy shade spreading about them. My mother looked up from sitting at the table; she had obviously been worried about me.

"Where have you been Mary? I've been worried sick about you! It took you so long, you've been gone almost an hour!" She said frantically, I sat down beside her and put my arms around her, trying to comfort her. My heart was also racing, thinking about the past hour.

"Sh Mother, it's alright, I'm home now, I got into a bit of trouble, but luckily that got resolved."

At this, my mother cried, "What trouble? What happened?"

"I'm fine Mother, I'm fine. Well, I'll save you from the details, but let's just say my situation was getting dangerous, until a man came and saved me."

"Oh my poor little girl! Never am I letting you out of the house at this time again! I knew it was a bad idea! It's much too dangerous!"

I got a bit annoyed. I should be able to go out whenever I want, I'm practically a woman, but I knew what my mother meant. She was just upset and worried.

"Sh...," I said in a soothing tone, "Now, you do remember why I left home right?"

At this my mother sat up, wiping the tears out of her dark brown eyes, they looked exactly like mine, "Oh. Yes. Where is you father? Did you find him?"

I didn't know what to say without my mother worrying again, so I just decided to tell the truth, "Well, to be honest Mother, he wasn't there. His shop was not cleaned up and all his trinkets were still sprawled across his shop. It looked like he left it rather abruptly. I couldn't find him anywhere. Do you know where he could have gone Mother?"  
My Mother was looking away from me, refusing to look straight at me, this was odd. She remained quiet for a while, but it was obvious that she was thinking about many things.

"I knew this was coming," she muttered, "I told him, I told him he was going to have to be more careful! He couldn't just stand out in the complete open! It was just a matter of time..."

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach, my heart was pounding and I could hardly breath. What was my mother talking about?

"Mother... What's wrong? Why should Father have been more careful?"

She looked at me. She looked at me with an emotion I had never seen on her before, she looked at me with a face of pure pity. Not just sympathy, but complete pity. Now I was really worried. I raised my voice, "Mother. Where is Father."

"He's... he's... I don' t know! But dear, I am so sorry you were born into this life, a life of such terrible secrets. I thought that – that after I married your father, after I left, and hid, that maybe they would ignore us, that maybe they didn't care about me or him anymore. But I was wrong. I was so wrong." She looked at me again, a flash of that awful pitying look again, and then glanced around, "Where is your brother? We need to leave this instance, they are probably already on their way, coming to get us... James! _James_! Where are you?" My brother did not answer, so my mother ran around the house looking for him. I stood still, I could not move. What was happening, I did not know, I felt as though I was in a terrible nightmare, and although I tried, I could not wake up. My life was a lie, my entire life I was standing on a solid rock pillar, but now this rock was crumbling, more and more pieces were falling off of this pillar, and soon it would be completely destroyed.

Suddenly, I heard a terrible shriek, and I ran towards the sound. My mother was standing there, wailing and screaming. I couldn't think of what could have caused these sounds, but that's when I saw the fire, the fire was burning in my eyes, and as I looked to see what it was burning, I almost fainted. There, on the floor, lay my brother, encased in flames, his corpse was so distorted and burnt that you could only barely see his natural frame. I felt so weak at that point, I just needed all of this to stop, I couldn't hear anything anymore, not my mothers bloodcurdling shrieks or the sound of my brother's body burning. I stared at the fire, into this bright blaze, I used to love gazing at fires, seeing the way that it moved about and caused so much warmth, I loved the sound of the wood popping, but now I felt that the fire was too bright, too hot, it was unbearable. I wanted to scream, but I didn't see how that would help. Out of nowhere, I felt an agonizing pain on my head, I crumpled to the floor, and the last thing I saw was the fire slowly dying on my brother's corpse. Then the world went black.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Haytham**_

Haytham was not all that happy with the turnout at the Beggar's Opera; it could have gone much better, but he was able to locate and steal the necklace, and leave the building without getting caught. As he was riding back from the Opera, he thought of tonight's events. First, that bastard Jimmy stole his tickets to the opera, therefore he had to waste the rest of the evening searching for him, and when he finally found Jimmy, he had to save that pitiful "woman" Miss Crawford from Jimmy. Although, when he thought of how small Miss Crawford was, and how terribly Jimmy and his crew were treating her, anger arose from somewhere deep in his heart, something that didn't usually happen. He remembered how independent she had been after that, and he chuckled to himself. That girl was going to cause much trouble to people in her way with that attitude. He had quite enjoyed the walk with her after that, although it had costed him some time and made him late for the opera. He wondered if he would ever meet that Mary Crawford girl again, he doubted it, but somewhere deep inside him, he desperately wanted to see her again. Haytham arrived at the meeting place and stepped out of the carriage. He took the medallion out of his pocket and looked at it whilst turning it around with his hand. There was inscriptions on it that were a strange language. He entered the door, smiling to himself and thinking of what the other men would say of his accomplishment.

_**Mary**_  
I woke up with a throbbing ache in my head. I had no idea whatsoever of where I was and how long I'd been unconscious. But as I gained more consciousness, I realized that I was in the middle of a room; I was sitting in a very uncomfortable chair with my hands tied behind it and my feet also tied to the ends of the chair. I was gagged as well. Momentarily, I was confused as to how I'd gotten here. But then, as if they were immersing from a very murky swamp, my memories returned, I remembered everything that had happened; my brother's burning body, my mother's shrieks, and the sudden hit to the head that had caused me to pass out. Whoever had hit me had surely brought me here. These people must be the people that Mother had talked about before she found James. How long had it been since that had happened? Was it hours? Days? Could it have even been months? I had no clue. I also had no idea where my mother was. Was she also here? Tied up somewhere? I wanted to call out, but I was afraid my capturers may hear me. I knew that I should try to come up with a plan of some sort, but I felt so tired and drowsy that, instead, I fell back to sleep again, just as I heard someone open the door. I was wide awake now, my heart was pounding and I felt extremely nervous, although I was desperate to see who was walking towards me, I decided to still pretend I was asleep, so though I couldn't see, I could still hear what the stranger may say.

By the sound of their footsteps, I concluded that there were two somewhat large men walking around my chair.  
"What d'ya say, mate? She's Will Robertson's daughter. Remember 'im?  
"Aye! I remember that scoundrel, pledges allegiance to the Order and then disappears without a trace, along with that bitch Lily Hawthorne from America. I was 'appy to see them gone to be completely honest."  
I frowned, Robertson was not my father's last name, it was Crawford, and my mother's was Matthews, it had to be. That's what they'd been telling me forever, and I trusted them enough to know that they weren't lying to me, were they?  
"She's quite the cute one in't she?" One man said, I realized that they were talking about me and I began to sweat with nervousness. I prayed that they wouldn't come any closer to me.  
The other man laughed, "Now Gabes, ya can't do anything with 'er, Charles said that she 'ad to be in perfect condition when she arrived, no touching or anything like that."  
"Aye, I know. She's been sleeping a long time 'asn't she? I wonder when she'll wake up, anytime now, darlin'!" Gabes shouted. I decided to snore a bit and roll my head to the left, so it wouldn't be as suspicious as if I had just stayed perfectly still.  
"Well, I guess we just leave this food 'ere then, don't we?"  
"Sure, then we can go back up to the deck and have a little fun with the others." They laughed and left. I waited until I couldn't hear their footsteps anymore and opened my eyes again. My neck was hurting from the angle it was at for such awhile. In front of my feet was a tray that had some biscuits on it and a glass of water. How was I supposed to get it when my hands and feet were tied to the chair? Idiots, I thought. But at the sight of the biscuits, my stomach growled with a sudden intense hunger. I tried to squeeze my hands through the rope, but the burn from the rope hurt too much. I sighed loudly and looked around once more. What had Gabes and that other man said? They were going up to the deck... No, no no no, I thought. That would mean I am on a ship, off of land, in the middle of the sea. Now that I thought of it, I felt the entire structure sway and I suddenly felt nauseous and queasy, but I swallowed my uneasiness, since there were more important things that I needed to think about. I knew that I was on a boat, but where is it going to? How long have I been on it? And do the other people on the boat know that there is a captive in it somewhere? I also knew, even though I didn't want to think about it, that I couldn't sleep forever, at one point either my captivators will realize that I am not actually asleep, or I'll just have to wake up for them. I wanted to cry, to scream at someone to help me. I wiggled around furiously, only to fall forward and crash into the the tray, resulting in the glass of water shattering and me laying on the ground with several scratches.

"What was that?" I heard someone say from outside, I didn't know whether I should be happy, or nervous. I had a strong feeling that whoever it was outside this room was not someone who was going to save me, in fact, it was most likely Gabes or one of the other men. I was right in the end. Gabes and two other men ran into my room, looked around and then settled their eyes on me. "Well, she's awake!" Gabes laughed, "but she don't look so good no more. What should we do men? We can't just leave 'er 'ere with all these scratches from the glass." He looked down at me, and I looked up at him, and even though I tried to channel all my anger into the look I gave him, tears were streaming down my face and I knew I looked much more pathetic than anything else. I lay my head on the ground and lay there crying, while the men were planning what to do with me now.


End file.
